


Put a fold in the edge of darkness

by Amemait, cruelest_month



Series: The Universe Is Going To Catch Us [2]
Category: Saints Row, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Hand of Thrawn Duology - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Legends: Outbound Flight - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy
Genre: And A Thousand Elephants, GFY, If we can't get the Shield Generator fixed we'll be sitting ducks!, Jorj Car'das is the Saints Row Boss, M/M, Spoiler: There are no elephants in this story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-08-27 15:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8407186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amemait/pseuds/Amemait, https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruelest_month/pseuds/cruelest_month
Summary: Wherein Jorj Car'das doesn't meet an old friend at a bar.





	1. Chapter 1

The white hair had been the only viable option in the various dye packets, which Thrawn had combined with the kind of haircut which had been popular amongst the civilians on Csilla in his childhood. Not matter what Thrawn had tried, however, he couldn't see through the eye inserts and it would have taken too long for him to retrain his mind to the pinprick of light it seemed most other species were forced to bear.

The alcohol in the bar was also decidedly… unappetising.

Jorj sighed loudly as he entered the bar followed by Pierce and Johnny. His knuckles were bruised and possibly bleeding but other than that their arrival had been fairly normal. Johnny just needed to stop picking fights with the shadiest, tallest people he could find lingering around any given shadowport.

"You're buying," he informed Johnny. "And you better behave or you're not coming with next time."

"Right, Boss."

"And me find a med kit."

"Never mind him. I'm already on it," Pierce announced.

Thrawn froze, then hunched his shoulders. The odds were- Jorj hadn't read his files, had he? No, surely not.

Part of Thrawn’s mind started sketching out the mathematics involved, part watched Jorj and wished him both closer and not here, while the rest of his mind kept watch for the person he was meant to be meeting with, finally, tonight.

Jorj hissed a bit when Pierce disinfected his wound. He watched him bandage up his knuckles and then tugged his hand away. "Not bad."

"We could have just walked away."

Johnny scoffed. "You can't walk away from fights. Not around here."

Pierce rolled his eyes. "Maybe we could learn though. I'm not saying you two can't hold your own but… pissing off people all over the galaxy… It's not smart. You know?"

Jorj shrugged. "I'll take that under advisement. Drinks. Now."

Thrawn deliberately looked away from - which was that crewmember? Gat, Johnny. A criminal record taller than Thrawn and sometimes declared deceased. That contact would show soon, with luck - before Gat noticed him.

Johnny got up and fetched drinks. Jorj glanced around the room briefly before tugging his chair closer to his table. He was hoping to avoid making any more new friends.

Thrawn closed his eyes for split second, and tucked his arm out of the way when Gat leaned over the bar next to him, and only then realising that his body language was a mistake.

"Just getting drinks," Johnny said to the twitchy alien at his right. He ordered three drinks and didn't really turn to look at him. Twitchy aliens had twitchy trigger fingers and Johnny knew he was sort of intimidating. His reputation being what it was. "What's got everyone so wound up around here anyway, man?"

Thrawn looked across the room, going very still, only watching Gat through the corners of his eye.

"Probably got more to do with you being you than anything else, Johnny. Hey. We heard you were dead." The bartender didn't bother with anything fancy, Johnny always got twitchy when he thought somebody wasn't holding a bottle right.

"I rested up a bit. Got over it," Johnny said. He kept an eye on the bartender, noting the contents of each drink. They seemed acceptable. "Nothing interesting going on tonight?"

"Aside from me having to hire new bouncers? Dammit Gat, could you please stop beating on the ones I do get."

"Tried to but they took a swing at my employer. He took it personally."

Thrawn clenched his jaw, slightly surprised by the sudden wave of fury coursing through him.

"Car'das insult their mothers or something? C'mon Gat, we all know you started it, or you wouldn’t be the one buying."

"Oh I started it. There's no doubt," Gat agreed, handing over credits for the drinks and a generous tip. He sounded a bit proud of being the instigator. "But you know Car'das. He asked them to stop. Politely. I don't know why he thinks that works. It just makes everyone angry."

"Because Car'das is a gentleman. Which you are not."

"Well, there's a reason I work for him and he does the thinking." Johnny had no issue with that. He liked the orders he got and he found it highly amusing to work for a guy who wanted less trouble than he ever seemed to find.

"I thought it was because he was cuter."

"Yeah that was part of it," Johnny admitted. Jorj was cute but so was Matt and Kinzie and most of the crew. And most of the crew didn't have a potentially sinister alien boyfriend. "At first. But he's a good boss. Thanks for the drinks."

"You going to pay for those, or do you expect me to take it out of my ex-bouncers' pay?"

"I just paid you," Johnny pointed out. "If you need more, take it out of their pay."

"You are lucky your boss can do the eyes when he needs alcohol."

"The eyes?"

"The big sad eyes."

Johnny considered the bartender. "Man, take my advice? Be careful. Seriously. His boyfriend's lethal."

Thrawn carefully did not swear, because that was Roarke, his contact, there.

"His boyfriend must be if you say so. Pity. All the cute ones are taken & uninterested in me."

"I hear ya," Johnny said. "Sorry about the bad news. On the other hand, I'm very much single and our mutual friend is too. We ain't cute but we're pretty easy."

"Pierce does have great taste in clothes… "

"He'd also be flattered. Poor guy's been getting the short end of the stick since he joined the crew. He can't compete with Miller."

"Miller is way too young."

"He is. Either way, you want me to send Pierce over?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"I'll see what I can do." Johnny headed back over to the table.

"How long can it take to get a drink?" Jorj asked, snatching his right away. "I was about to send out a search party."

"Sorry that guy just did not shut up about Pierce. Or clothes. Had a hard time getting away."

"Huh," was all Pierce said.

"Go check it out," Jorj suggested. He smirked when Pierce downed his drink and wandered away.

Thrawn pulled away from the bar to follow Roarke and naturally, because today nothing could go correctly, spilled his drink down Pierce's shirt when the human bumped into him.

"Oh you did not just-- Why did you do that?" Pierce loudly demanded. "Come on, man!"

Thrawn flinched backwards, opening his eyes wide.

"This is so not cool," Pierce continued, grabbing at napkins to wipe up the drink. "Not cool."

Thrawn took a step back, only because that was precisely not what he would do normally.

"Aw, cutie, I'm sure I've got somewhere you can dry those off… " the bartender leered.

Pierce paused mid-tirade. “…Is there a good detergent in that place? This shirt was kind of expensive."

"You are hopeless," Jorj announced as he joined his crew member. Mostly because he wasn't sure what Pierce was or wasn't going to do. Hopefully he was going to wander off with the bartender and cheer up.

"That's all I get?"

"When you bump into somebody? Yeah, that's all you get."

Thrawn shot a glance across the room. He could bolt after Roarke, right then, but that would only garner them both more attention.

And then it was too late because Jorj was standing right there in front of him and there was no way he wouldn't know.

"Look, don't worry about it," Jorj said to the alien. He seemed awfully nervous. He was also awfully blue and… he really hoped Thrawn got back from that stupid mission soon. He held some credits out the alien. "Go head off to whatever you were about to do. And here's for your drink."

Then he set about shoving Pierce back when Pierce shoved him. It was difficult, really, to pay the alien anything close to his full attention with Pierce demanding some of it.

"Man, why do you always do that? Why are you giving this guy anything? I'm sorry he got inconvenienced but I'm the one covered in alcohol here."

"Just leave it alone, Pierce. Go get cleaned up."

Thrawn blinked in bemusement at the money. "Thank you kind being, but not necessary to existence. To your associate I would be apologising, had I the thought your associate would accept it."

"Don't worry about it," Jorj repeated. He frowned a bit as he considered the alien.

"He talks funny--ow. Kriff, Boss."

Jorj rolled his eyes after he elbowed Pierce. "You say that kind of thing when someone leaves, dumbass." He turned to the bartender. "Please help this man out of his wet clothes? Somewhere else?"

"How long do I get to keep him out of them, Car'das?"

Jorj sighed. He hoped he didn't sound as wistful as he felt at the notion that someone else was going to get laid and he wasn't. Again. "However long you like. Just get to it."

Thrawn backed up another step, trying to simultaneously manoeuvre around and perhaps away from Jorj before he snapped and gave in to the urge to kiss Jorj's injured hand.

"C'mere, Piercey."

"Uh. Sure thing… guy whose name I hope to learn."

"You have been coming here every few months since I opened, and you don't know my name yet? Oh we have so much catching up to do."

"It's really okay," Jorj repeated to the alien. "Honest. He's not even that mad. It's okay. Go on now."

"Wow. It's like you can't let an hour go by without finding a cause," Johnny murmured.

"Ven bin'vah," Thrawn muttered. "Ch'acin't," he added, smiling quickly and reassuringly to Jorj before he turned and walked away carefully.

"Bun'zan'o… Wait… what?" That had been-- Dammit. Of course it had been. Jorj resisted the urge to smack his forehead.

Behind his shades, Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem, Boss? I can go after him."

"No it's fine."

"Seems… not fine."

"It will be," Jorj muttered. "Let's drink some more."

Johnny looked skeptical for a moment and then he shrugged. "Cool."

 

"You know who that was?"

Thrawn shook his head, eyes wide. "Kind being with money or loud angry outsider-stranger?"

"Either one."

Thrawn shrugged. "Kind one knew Cheunh. Alcohol-server named him Car'das, so Jorj Car'das caught by Unforgiven Exiled Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Other know not."

"Jorj Car'das," the contact repeated. "Well, I guess that makes sense. His crew's here now and again. He's a bit soft-hearted when it comes to nonhumans." He didn't sound like he felt that was a good thing. Or that he thought the alien would even understand most of the words coming out of his mouth.

Thrawn smiled, sharply. "I had distant-house-sibling - cou-sin? - serving under Unforgiven Exiled Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Heard Car'das name, wished to… examine? test? if correct he was Car'das." His expression darkened slightly, thinking of how Ar'alani had described him and Jorj later, before his Exile. "Good beings both, but cunning enough to slice themselves."

"Car'das should be less helpful. No one really likes helpful people. Not around here. He only gets away with it because he has Gat to get him out of trouble," Roarke explained. "Don't know about any Mitty-thren-doo. But he can't be too smart if he got exiled. What is it you need from me exactly, friend?"

Thrawn filed that tiny piece of information away, but blinked with the character he was playing, and lowered his voice. "Seeking out those… pushed aside by the government?" He frowned as though concentrating on the words very hard.

"And you got sent here with no back up?" Roarke sighed, looking slightly sympathetic. "Typical. What will you do when you find what you seek?"

"Be free," Thrawn said simply.

"Right." Roarke studied the alien. His paperwork had checked out and, for the most part, the guy hadn't been too deep into too many criminal activities. He could work in a pinch. Maybe. "All right. Let's say there is a place like the one you're seeking. And let's say it's in the early stage of operations where it needs people who can help out. How can you help out?"

Evidently the Rebellion was not so poorly off that it did not need to perform on-the-spot interviews. Wonderful. "Flight, navigation." Thrawn shrugged. "Many things, I am capable of."

"Might need a gesture of some kind. Preferably of good faith."

Thrawn twisted his face into something approximating what humans looked like when they were confused. "Faith- religion?" He shook his head. "not do understand?"

"We need you to perform a task. As a test."

"Ah. This, understand."

Roarke nodded. "Your paperwork checked out a little too well in some respects. A test will confirm whether you're suitable or not. Not standard procedure, but it wasn't exactly my idea."

Thrawn shrugged. "Paperwork was hard to obtain - some is fake," he admitted, lowering his voice a little. "Ascendancy never involved in Republic, but found my existence here anyway. Older records, past ten orbits, fake." Thrawn smiled quickly. "Pay some taxes, some medical treatments."

Roarke looked around before shaking his head. "Hey. Don't tell anyone else that, okay? Sheesh. Most of that, uh, is understood already, you follow me?"

Thrawn grinned, brightly. "Thought perhaps you wished further… knowing? telling? … ex-plan-ate-on."

"No one can vouch for you?"

Thrawn spread his hands wide. "Not this side of galaxy. Liked it here, back before. Now, too like Ascendancy. Went home, little bit." Thrawn sighed, sadly. "Was worse home than recalled. But ah, you not wish to hear Ascendancy tales. An test?"

Roarke sighed. He didn't relish the thought of getting someone killed let alone an alien who barely understood Basic. But he couldn't just vouch for him himself. "You said you were good at flying, right? Steal a small ship. Then you'll come with me when we… . Well, when we help borrow a cargo of Tibanna gas from some smugglers."

Thrawn nodded. "I have an ship. Small, fast, not noticed much." He tilted his head. "How many to carry, how much gas? Need larger ship?"

Roarke glanced back at the bar. "Well, whatever we can get is fine. Thing is, we should do it now while the smugglers are still busy drinking. If we can't take it all, we can't take it all."

Thrawn's eyes went wide, knowing that Roarke might mistake his annoyance for fear. Jorj would be so very upset with him later. "Now perhaps then?"

"Now. Head down to the loading dock C-Twelve. I'll check and make sure our… friends are busy and join you there. We're just lucky that they didn't bring the whole crew."

"Twelve C, with ship of mine." Thrawn nodded, and walked off. Of course. Miller, Kensington, and Shaundi. He hadn't seen them yet. Miller might still be on the ship, at the least, but it was more likely that Shaundi was there.

Roarke checked on the bar and on the status of the other crew members. It was easier to tale the other three. Car'das and Gat were too aware of that sort of thing. Then he headed down to the docks. He arranged for a Pantoran and a Wookiee to meet him there. Both were very low-level in terms of the Alliance in general but he trusted them.

He sighed a bit when he spotted the blue guy. He really hoped this one wouldn't set off alarms. Or die. "Good. You're here. You're going to get your ship. Then you're going to play look-out."

Thrawn nodded, smiling vaguely. It wouldn't do to appear too intelligent - or military.

"So here's the deal. Most people won't come over here but if you see anyone from the bar you were in? You distract them or knock them out. Don't kill anyone. Otherwise you just stand behind some crates and keep quiet."

Thrawn nodded, looking slightly more serious now. If Jorj came by-

No. Better to not think of that possibility until it actually occurred. No sense in tempting whichever coincidences had led Jorj to Bespin.

Roarke set a hand on the blue guy’s shoulder. "These guys won't hurt you. And again. You don't have to kill anyone. We don't kill people."

"Good."

“So you get to work keeping an eye out." There was no sense telling the guy that there was a Pantoran doing the same thing just around the corner from where they were. Good faith was one thing. Blind faith was another.

Thrawn nodded again, more brightly this time.

Roarke was Chandrillan. Did not enjoy delegating beyond those he trusted - and more than trusted them to do the job, trusted them as a person. Therefore-

Therefore there was likely to be somebody else nearby, somebody he actually knew, doing another layer of surveillance on the area, and on Thrawn himself.

With some slight luck, that other person would pick up Jorj first, should he come by.

Roarke paused. He didn't know why and he sort of hated to do it, but he couldn't keep himself from offering a little more advice. "And just so we're clear… This is a test too, okay? So don't be surprised if someone checks on you. When we're ready, we'll bring out the cargo and you'll help us load up your flyer."


	2. Chapter 2

Thrawn pulled his hands back from the controls and took a breath. Jorj was going to kill him if Kensington didn't get to him first. "All well?"

"All's great," Roarke said. He patted the blue guy's shoulder and rolled his eyes when the Wookiee growled. "You did great too." He wasn't sure why he always ended working with aliens who needed tons of positive reinforcement… But he did enjoy it. "Let's head to Kirtarkin. We'll hand the gas off and figure out where you're going from there."

Thrawn nodded again, and went back to trying to work out how much apologising he was going to do for this.

"Don't be nervous You're doing just fine. And those smugglers won't be after you. Won't be after any of us, really. Car'das is sympathetic to our cause. Enough to look the other way at least."

Not what Thrawn actually wanted to hear.

"The look on his face'll be funny though. It's a shame we'll miss it."

"Only if Car'das knows was us." The look on Jorj's face would be terrible.

"He'll be told by his crew. Might be wise to reimburse him. I'll have someone take care of that later." Credits in a bank account took care of hard feelings most of the time.

Thrawn froze. "His crew spotted us?"

"No but he has Miller and Kensington. They'll know. They won't know too much specifically though. And you don't have a record. I think you're safe."

Of course they would. For all that Miller had been placed on probation, he and Kensington were unlikely to leave things like shipments unbugged. Ktah. He'd have to avoid handling them at all. "Ah."

"That's why we're handing off the cargo. I'm not messing with whatever is in there with the gas we got."

Thrawn nodded sagely.

"And don't worry. I know you probably think stealing is wrong but sometimes you have to do it. Although you probably won't do much of it outside of flying."

"Stealing from kind beings, ill-mannered. Steal from slavers, ill-planned." Thrawn shrugged, looking at some of his readouts. "Hyperspace ten minutes."

"Right. He helped you out back there. Sorry, friend. On the bright side you're unlikely to see him again, right?"

"Cou-sin said Car'das polite, for Outsider. Outsider-friend, singular existence." Thrawn was not going to let Roarke insult Jorj like that, however much the human didn't realise it was an insult. Bright-side indeed.

Roarke grinned. "Polite, yeah. Handsome too. Cute. Also forgiving by all accounts. Seeing someone though. Just in case you're already getting your hopes up."

Thrawn blinked. He hadn't realised that was getting around so quickly.

"So heard associate say to alcohol server. Thought was lie."

"Yeah it's a shame. Always seems to happen though. Also stealing a smuggler's cargo isn't exactly a great start to a potential romance."

Thrawn smiled up at Roarke. "Certain you will catch another." Preferably somebody who was as far away from Jorj as possible.

"Thanks. Wish we'd hooked up at least once before he found someone but the galaxy's a big place. No big deal. Plus he might be working with Imperials. Not… exactly a good thing for anyone in our line of work. How far are we now?"

"Seven minutes. You should sit. So, works with Imperials, sympathy to rebels enough to let stolen be stolen?"

Roarke sat down in the empty co-pilot's seat. "He's trying to be all neutral and above it all, I guess. I wonder how that's working out for him."

Thrawn was not entirely certain he wished to know, but then again, building up Jorj's reputation with the Rebellion would make him happier than with the Imperials. "Ah. Fortress Wall. Keeps in, keeps out, stands between. Does not directly choose which in, which out, but money from both takes. Yes?"

"He's yet to take money from the Imperials. I can't imagine he'd keep his crew if he did but Car'das isn't dumb. He can't keep a business if he picks us. But right now we don't need shrewd calculations from smugglers. We need action and supplies."

At least Roarke had an appreciation for Jorj's mind as well. "True. Strap in, my cockpit not good gravitational-compensated."

"Maybe we can get some of this checked out for you. After you're more settled."

Thrawn waved a hand. "No, no. Is better to fly, can feel ship more. Compensation on, feel less, all slow bulk."

"Good. Just… remember you should get something for what you do for us. We want people to feel welcome. And it sounds like you've had a rough time of it."

"Is ancient history. Life in moment, fly in moment, better." Thrawn tilted his head. "Could learn Basic better."

"Wouldn't hurt. Better for you, really. There's a lot of people out there who will take advantage of you if they think they can."

"One minute, straps safe?"

Roarke checked the straps. "Seems good."

"Hold hard," Thrawn remarked, and dialled back the gravitational compensation field a little further. The rest of the ship he left at full strength.

"You're good at this," Roarke said once Thrawn was done. "Flying, I mean."

"Like flying. Parents, say join military, like cou-sins, you ten orbits now old enough. Join, they make ground force, say don't like. Say flight. Leave military, Start learning flying colony supply ships. Lose name from shame, leave supply ships, make jump to edge of Ascendancy, and pick directions. Fly."

"You shouldn't be ashamed. It sounds like you managed and now you're making your own way. I'm sorry that your parents couldn't see it that way. I never knew mine but I'm sure they'd have given me plenty of trouble if they'd stuck around."

Thrawn ran a few diagnostics, not looking up. The clunker he'd been given fit the cover story, but he'd been working to upgrade the hyperdrive to Chiss specifications, rather than run the risk of being caught in a Conner Net. "Not ashamed. Parents not ashamed. Family ashamed, stripped my name. Long name boring anyway. Humans could not say right."

"What do you go by now? Or do you really go by the name on those papers you gave us?"

"Name on papers," Thrawn answered. "Why use name to not answer to?"

"It seemed like a silly name. Um. Kriff. Sorry. I always do that, and that was a horrible thing to say. But it just didn't seem like a real name. You know?"

Thrawn poked him, attempting to be good natured about it. "Kept name parents gave me for first name. Used grandmother's Family for surname, she said 'go fly'. Better to say than old name. Uru Chaf, not bad name."

"No but you seem like you ought to have a more dignified name." Although the name sort of suited the guy's simple personality. Or at least the personality he was sharing.

"Kres'uru'camco. See, is hard for humans?"

"Yeah but I don't know. You had to learn Basic. Someone ought to go the trouble of learning your name, right?"

"Does not matter! Name not mine now! Kres stripped, Camco stripped."

"If you say so." The Chiss sounded pretty backwards-thinking but he doubted Uru wanted to hear that.

"Kirarkin soon. My ship fast. Old core name was Suruc. Would be Furu now. Could call that, but not Furu Chaf."

"I could but… um. Well, what do you yourself want to be called? Whatever that is, it's fine with me."

"Uru Chaf fine. Chaf'uru fine. Furu fine. Suruc not fine, Kres'uru'camco not fine."

"Understood. And that's fine too. Not everything ought to be up for grabs anyway. It's nice to meet you, Furu. And I think you might as well know that as far as I'm concerned and I know? You're in."

"Good, because this my ship, could flown anyplace," Thrawn pointed out and then grinned widely

Roarke laughed. "You could have at that." No sense telling the guy about the tracker he had on him.

Except that Roarke was very Chandrillan, Thrawn mused. Which meant that Thrawn or his ship were in all probability already being tracked. He would not be able to get away any time soon to contact the Empire - or Jorj. No sense in informing the Rebel that Thrawn had already worked this out, however, the human would wonder why Thrawn would continue to trust him after such an obvious betrayal as that.

 

* * *

 

 

"So, Boss, would you like the good news first or the bad news?" Kinzie asked cheerfully, because when she found whoever had stolen from them, she would rip their faces off.

Jorj rubbed his temples wondering why all the news couldn't wait until he'd sobered up a bit more. "You pick, Kinzie."

"Well, the good news won't make sense without the bad news first. Some kriffer stole our shipment."

“…why? This whole planet is made of gas. They could get the stuff anywhere."

"We were shipping the refined stuff, Boss, the stuff that happens after it's been through the mining and refining process and it's nearly ready for being put into cannisters, that level of refinement. Not the raw stuff, the amount we had in raw would fill maybe three rifles."

“Just… Kinzie, just get to the good news."

Kinzie smirked. "You may have to apologise and let Miller put his bugs and trackers around the hold more often. He hadn't gotten around to cleaning that area out yet."

"Never happening," Jorj said. "Or well… fine he can have then in the hold with the cargo. Just not by me. Where is my good news?"

“Therefore. Good news is we know where they went, and once we're in range we'll know who it was. Assuming they don't have jammers."

"That's something, I guess. Any leads?"

"Jump vector looks like Kirtarkin. Miller's looking to see if he can get eyes on the ship or crew."

"Are we thinking Imperials or… ?"

"I dunno. Rival group, maybe Rebels. Don't know why imps would go after your cargo, if they knew it was you, or in general because they can actually get it legit."

"If it's Rebels… Let's just bill them." Stupid kriffing idiots that they were.

"But Boss… "

"Those losers have enough problems. And not enough brain cells."

"Hnph. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the Rebels, but I don't like having my stuff stolen."

"I'm with you there. I don't get why they'd pick on us all things considered… "

"So, Boss. You remember that Roarke guy who was so into you that Pierce noticed and yet you didn't?" Matt stuck his head around the doorframe.

"Umm… I think so?" It was a bit hard to remember people who liked him if they weren't Thrawn. But as that was a completely mushy thing to say, Jorj kept the sentiment to himself. "What happened with this guy?"

"And you remember how you asked me not to put bugs everywhere but I haven't cleaned everywhere yet?"

"You can have the hold. That's okay just not my room. So… I'm a bit sorry. What happened with the guy?"

"Yeah, anyw- ooh. Thank you." Matt grinned. "Guess who did the stealing?"

“….Really? What is this guy? Three years old? I'm at least giving him a piece of my mind. Find this jerk."

"Doesn't he work for the Rebels?"

"I didn't say we're hunting him down. I'm saying to find his ship and open up a hailing frequency. So I could tell him that he's a pathetic kriffing bastard."

"Who clearly couldn't get a date if he tried. Gotcha. I'll follow up the tracker." Matt disappeared back to his searches which he was already running anyway because it was sometimes better to ask forgiveness than permission.

"Thanks, Matt," Jorj called after him.

"Boss, we should actually get another shipment together if we're doing to make this run." Kinzie reminded him.

Jorj sighed. "Yeah let's… send Pierce and Johnny to get that."

"So… you want us, to make a jump after them, taunt them via comm, and then fly back here to pick up the cargo and go on?" Kinzie had to check because that was a ridiculous thing to do.

"No. We get more cargo and then we taunt them after we deliver it."

"By which time there is no way they'll still be at wherever their vector says they are," Kinzie pointed out reasonably. "How much did you have to drink exactly?"

"Kinzie, why can't you care about the things I care about? Fine. We'll just deliver stuff and let them go."

"Because the things you care about tend to be blue and look better than they should do considering the colour schemes involved in an olive-gray uniform?" Kinzie suggested.

"I also care about not letting people get away with things. Apparently that's too much to ask for. And I've yet to get any good news. Tell Pierce and Johnny to get moving. If my day's going to suck, so is everyone else's."

Kinzie snorted. "Okay Boss, but you get to tell Johnny why he doesn't get to shoot him outta the starfield. Oh, and Pierce isn't back yet."

Shaundi's voice came over the intercom. "Miller just told me. That man is dead."

"Hey, Shaundi. Can you see about getting us a new shipment?" Jorj's tone was her was a lot nicer and maybe later he'd feel bad about it.

"Sure, I think I know a guy in the area."

"You're the best."

"Might take a day or so though," Shaundi warned

"That's fine. That's great. It means we can go after this guy. See, Kinzie?"

"Already plotting the course Boss. Johnny wants to know why he can't come with to shoot things, and Pierce wants to know if he's allowed to get a change of clothes off the ship first. I still want to know how much you had to drink," Matt called, joining Shaundi's voice over the comm..

"I really don't care what Pierce thinks. Johnny isn't coming with because we're not killing anyone. And I'm not telling."

"Pierce doesn't think anything, he just wants spare clothes?" Matt answered.

“Too bad. He can ask his bartender buddy," Car'das grumbled.

"I think that's why he wants spare clothes," Matt replied, managing a rare moment of diplomacy.

"I'm your captain not your butler. I get to delegate. I'm delegating responsibility to Pierce. Or to you. Not me. He can find some kriffing clothes."

"I think he can probably buy some. I'm ready to go if you are. Shaundi, Miller?" Kinzie asked, grabbing on to her datapad.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with."

"Ready."

"I'll get in a chair with straps," Kinzie muttered, because she didn't have much faith in Miller's navigational skills.

"I'll do the same. And good work, guys," Car'das added.

"High functioning drunk, right there," Miller's voice echoed over the comm, followed by a quiet yelp when Shaundi probably hit him.

"You strapped in yet Boss, because I'm running preflight right now and I don't want you falling over a chair or something."

Jorj strapped in and gave a thumbs up. "Go ahead. I'm not drunk."

"Sure you aren't," Matt muttered.

"Taking off now, quiet down Miller."

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be safe, today and every day. Everybody.

Thrawn leaned against the landing gear, attempting to look like somebody who was perfectly fine being where he was but who wasn't going to leave his ship alone.

He'd found Miller's little bugs fairly quickly once he'd had a look, naturally. They'd both been turned off quickly enough, but something had made him keep one of the trackers in the sole of one of his boots. For all that he did not want Jorj involved in anything of this, it felt like… like an insurance policy.

Roarke wandered over to the alien. "Have you just been standing here for hours? You don't need to."

Thrawn gave him a look. "New person goes where, yes?"

"Ah. Right. No one came to talk to you or fetch you?"

"They stare little bit. Think is glowing eyes."

Roarke sighed. "Right. Well, let me have someone come and collect the cargo."

"Okay." Thrawn pushed off the landing struts, hoping that somebody would take pity on his character's grasp of Basic soon. It was getting a little tiring, transliterating the words from Cheunh to Basic rather than simply thinking in Basic in the first place.

"You need food?"

"Could eat. Ration bars boring." On the other hand, it would not help matters for him to pick up Basic as quickly as he truly had. How very vexing.

"You can relax, you know? Be yourself and all that. Test's are over. You can have my word on that if you like."

"Am relaxed. Not calling you sir. Yes sir no sir jump in snowdrift sir."

"You seem a bit… down though."

Thrawn blinked in surprise, and scrambled to come up with something. "Feel sorry for Car'das. Speaks Cheunh, miss own language hearing." He waved a hand. "You speak Basic, own language hearing daily, yes? Cheunh, not hearing daily. Not speaking daily. Never sure if word use right in Basic. Don't understand your… personal pronouns in sentence, miss saying 'ch'ah' to describe own existence. Car'das speak Cheunh."

"Car'das will manage. As for the way we talk… Maybe you could get a droid? I mean you seem to be doing okay but translators never hurt."

"Droids not able to be as complex." Thankfully, or somebody would have confronted him about some of his conversations with Jorj by now. "Ran'cah ch'ah rut. Ch'rarutn'cah. Ran’rutch’cah. Same thing."

"I suppose. Just… seems like it could be. Hold on." A crew member was heading towards them with a concerned look. "Do I want to know?"

"The cargo. Car'das has trackers. And he's calling."

"Ktah," Thrawn muttered with feeling.

"If that means what I think then… yeah," Roarke muttered.

"He wants to talk to the 'kriffing son of a bitch who couldn't take a hint.'"

Thrawn winced, and hoped that this meant Roarke and not himself.

"Meaning?"

"Up to you. You taking this or… ?"

Thrawn looked at Roarke blandly, and deliberately did not think of the various ways he knew how to kill the man.

Roarke sighed. "Hand it over, I guess."

Well, at least he was going to be polite about it. Thrawn was not sure which would have been worse, him ignoring Jorj, or him talking to Jorj.

"Car'das. What a surprise."

Jorj continued frowning. "Is it?"

"Sure!" Roarke said brightly. "Always a surprise to hear from you. Usually a pleasant one. What can I do for you?"

Thrawn closed his eyes. As though that would fool Jorj for an instant.

Jorj considered Roarke and… oh, seriously? He focused again on Roarke. "What you can do for me is explain why you decided to steal my cargo. Is that supposed to make me like you better or am I just to dismiss you as a gassy piece of bantha shit? Oh. Wait. Miller points out that I forgot cowardly, amateur, and completely pathetic. And he's right. "

Thrawn closed his mouth and worked on breathing through his nose. Once again, Jorj was demonstrating that he had quite the… effective vocabulary.

"Oh, that." Roarke tried grinning.

"I want some reasons why."

"Is breaking in the rookie an acceptable answer?" Roarke kept trying to grin.

Rookie? Thrawn raised an eyebrow.

"With my cargo? With no intention of returning it?"

"Bill it?" Roarke winced. He honestly hadn't expected Car'das would notice so soon.

"Bill it? I have a client. She's not exactly pleased." Which wasn't true. Jorj had no intention of telling her and she wouldn't notice for at least a fortnight. She was incredibly rich and a Hutt. They weren't always observant. "For all you know she's got half my crew hostage and she's going to kill me if she doesn't get it in the next hour."

Thrawn winced again, remembering the last time Jorj had had a client who wasn't pleased.

"Oh, please. You would have opened with that if it were true, rather than just yelling at me. Gimme some credit Car'das." Roarke caught sight of Thrawn's expression. "Something funny there, Furu?"

"But that's what could have happened and you wouldn't have lost even a minute of sleep. Would you? Kriffing Rebels. The ends don't justify every pointless mean you have. And they don't justify this bullshit over me not wanting to sleep with you. And was that guy next to you involved? I'd like to speak to him too. I mean I gave him credits five seconds before he robbed me."

"Not funny," Thrawn muttered at Roarke. "I didn't take them, you'll recall," he added in Cheunh.

"Ch'anrutot ebeucot."

"And no, it was not my idea, sweetheart." Thrawn narrowed his eyes, because even being called an absolute idiot by Jorj was preferable to not hearing from him at all.

"You're still living on the couch," Jorj said in Cheunh.

"Was I going to say no, that is my beautiful one's ship I cannot steal from it?" Thrawn nodded. "Though. Couch. Yes."

"Don't try those terms of endearment on me. You'll be on the couch. Alone."

"I'm not going to use your name in this conversation, endearments are all I have."

"I love you but I have business to discuss. But you're on notice." Jorj looked back at Roarke. "You and this Chiss are both idiots. I will bill you and then I had better never set eyes on you again."

"I love you too. The sooner this is over the better." Thrawn made an effort to look suitably chastised.

"You know, I think that's the most fluid I've ever heard him talk." Roarke shrugged. "Hey, I didn't expect to run into you on Bespin. It's not like I keep tabs on you or anything. I could keep tabs on you if you want though, Jorj."

Thrawn turned a wide-eyed expression on Roarke because using Jorj's name was… no.

Jorj sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We talked about this, Roarke. It might have been once and I get that you're mad that I never took you up on it? But it's not a possibility at all now."

"Hey, all I asked was if you wanted me to keep tabs on you, Jorj," Roarke held up a hand and protested.

Thrawn carefully didn't growl. "Would you like me to hit him for you for that kind of disrespect, sweetheart? We've already discussed naming conventions."

"And I'm telling you to drop it. For your own good. Honestly." Jorj looked over at Thrawn. "No," he added in Cheunh. "It's fine."

"His own good now involves me not hitting him."

"I'm tempted to just follow you around a bit now, because my new pilot here clearly misses speaking his own language a lot," Roarke broke into the conversation he didn't understand a word of.

Jorj rolled his eyes. "He's desperately asking me to forgive him because unlike you? He has manners and a sense of self-preservation. Behave," Jorj advised Thrawn in Cheunh. "It's not worth it."

"I forsee a great deal of grovelling in my future, yes."

"So much grovelling."

"Very well. But only because you told me not to hit him. Feel free to rescind that request at any time, sweetheart."

"Don't kill him." Yet, whispered a tiny treacherous part of Jorj's mind. Don't kill him yet, he may yet be of some use.

"Listen to you two gabbing away there," Roarke mentioned, feeling slightly left-out.

"Don't kill him yet or don't kill him at all?" It wasn't Thrawn's fault Jorj hadn't expressed a temporal affix there.

"Not when it's your fault he got to pull off this ridiculous scheme." Jorj glanced back at Roarke. "For your information? I spent quite awhile in the Chiss Ascendency. I learned the language because I try to understand people before I piss them off."

"Can I kill him for picking on you? There were others he could have chosen from but I understand he targeted you because you… spurned his advances." Thrawn hunched his shoulders and looked down.

"How much do we owe you, Car'das?"

"How much do they owe us, Kinzie?"

"A LOT! That was refined! The really good stuff!" Kinzie yelled.

"You can leave it alone. You've done enough damage, sweetheart. Believe me," Jorj said to Thrawn. "Name a figure, Kinzie."

Kinzie handed Jorj a piece of flimsy. "This much." The flimsy had ‘roughly 100k, but ask for more because they deserve it’ scrawled on it. Kinzie’s styluswriting was not as good as her typing.

Jorj whistled. "Wow you're dumb. You owe me a hundred thousand credits."

"Fine. Bill it. Usual channels okay if I leave a note?"

"Fine. But we're not speaking again."

"In that case, I still love you. And I'm going by Chaf'uru for the duration," Thrawn added, just in case Jorj needed a name to look up on,

"I love you too. You better come home soon. Or it'll be that much worse for you. Way more groveling."

"I'll come home when it's done, but I shall attempt to be as expedient as possible." Thrawn took a step back, out of the holo's range.

"You better. So long, Roarke," Jorj said and then he closed the communications.

"Basic must be really different from yours," Roarke said, looking over at Furu. "I'm guessing you only just started learning?" He handed the holo projector back his crew member and figured he'd keep an eye out for the bill.

Thrawn sighed as he climbed back into character, and then glared at Roarke. "New phrase. Steal from slavers, ill-planned. Steal from kind beings, ill-planned worst."

Roarke laughed. "I didn't think he'd figure it out so quickly. I thought I'd get to pay him first. Wish I had too. He completely overcharged me."

Thrawn shrugged. "Justified."

"Easy for you to say. You're not paying."

"Easy speaking. Not paid for this existence. Out of own heart's kindness." Thrawn offered a grin. "Why name you Car'das Jorj?"

"Oh just to mess with him." Roarke shrugged. "I really am not that bent out of shape that he's not into me. Sure I kinda liked getting back at him but the truth remains that he was the safest person to steal from. And for the record, I looked into his client. I'm not trying to get anyone killed. It's on me anyway. You don't have to apologize to him again if you ever see him, okay?"

Thrawn raised an eyebrow. His estimation of the human might be about to rise a little bit, but it depended on his next words. "Cou-sin said Car'das full name, Jorj core name. Like Furu core name, Chaf'uru full name." And how very, very wrong Roarke was about not having to apologise.

Roarke raised an eyebrow. "Ah. I see. Well, it's a little different for humans. But I see what you mean. We're not overly familiar with each other so I should call him Car'das." He laughed again and shook his head. "Hardly matters all things considered… but all right. I'll stick to his last name."

It was often different for humans, but Jorj had explained that aspect of his own name-use very clearly. Thrawn nodded. "Likely good plan."

"Yeah. And seeing as I'm likely to work with you again, I'd rather not having you thinking any worse of me than you already do."

It would be unlikely for Thrawn to think worse of him, only because he was a Rebel. "Where go now?"

"You need to eat and get some rest. On your ship or off."

"Where go food?" Thrawn suggested. Resting was not terribly restful. The bed was quite uncomfortable, and it didn't have Jorj in it to hold on to.

"There's a mess hall up the stairs to your right. Just get whatever you want."

"Pay how?"

"It's taken care of. I told them to expect you so don't worry about it. If you're worried about your ship, I can get it for you though."

"How will know is me?" Thrawn asked slyly.

"Everyone else has been here for weeks. Also the only other blue person here is Pantoran.”

“Ah! Often, am asked if Pantoran with defection. Good to meet yes?"

"Good to meet? Uh. Yeah probably."

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Empire only cares about you if you're useful to them. And then you will be disposed of.

It had been a month.

A solid month of smiling vaguely, of nodding and heading off to do the Rebellion’s bidding, and of making what few analyses he could.

He was not always able to contact his handler, which had apparently been a cause for some slight consternation during some stages, but it had been pointed out that Thrawn was a Fleet Captain, and he pointed out that he was hardly going to follow the interests of a group which believed in outright robbery as a method of acquiring goods.

Jorj had looked exceedingly angry during that commcall. Thrawn had already arranged for the extra funds he was receiving from this assignment into an interest-accumulating account for access once it was over, in case the Rebels hadn’t paid his Jorj the full value requested.

And now they were all going to die because some idiot had decided to make an example of this particular Rebel ship.

Not knowing that it was Rebel, of course. They would have already been dead were that actually known.

Thrawn ignored the angry sparks from bare cables along the ship as he ran for the cockpit. He’d understood the wish to keep the location of this base secret from him in the initial flights on this run (as though he hadn’t been able to work out it was Alderaan from the architecture, did these Rebels believe him blind?), but now that they’d dropped out of hyperspace – and were being fired upon, there was no reason for his continued exclusion.

Thrawn smiled grimly when he reached the doors. The pilot was insensate, possibly dead. Which would make things that much easier.

The comm blared at him. “Unidentified transport, please transmit your transponder, or we will fire again.”

Thrawn toggled the switches to transmit a response, sealing the blast doors, then using his blaster on the pilot. Stun setting, there was no sense in not being cautious, and if later questioned he could always claim it was a good method of pain relief in the event that the Devorian was heavily injured, and would slow the heartrate enough to prevent bleeding out. “You incapacitated the pilot with your warning shot, _Devestator_. If you would give me a moment to find the correct controls? I am as yet unfamiliar with this craft.”

He added a line of code to the transponder transmission. It was a risk, certainly, but-

The _Devestator_ fired again. Thrawn saw the flare of the torpedo in his periphery, and had just enough time for his mind’s eye to flash on Jorj before it hit the transpirasteel.

* * *

 

“Sir, we’ve decrypted the secondary line in the transponder.”

“And?” Lieutenant Ozzel demanded, sharply.

“Sir, it’s… ” The ensign suppressed a wince. “It’s Imperial Intelligence, sir. One of the crew was one of ours.”

“There was only one human aboard. Roarke, he’s got his name on several arrest warrants, and I don’t want to let that one go just because Intelligence has him in their pocket. They can find another smuggler easily.”

“It is not that simple, Lieutenant Ozzel. Where is Lord Vader?” the CMO asked from behind, and Ozzel jumped, then glanced down the walkway, because the imposing figure was already sweeping his way towards them.

“You have something to report?”

“Sir!” Ozzel began. “We have a decryption for the secondary line. We believe it to be Imperial Intelligence in origin.”

Vader nodded, then looked to the CMO, who didn’t so much as blink in the face of the black mask.

“You have something to report, Doctor Tore?” he intoned.

“One of the aliens. He has reacted poorly to some of the painkillers, and is now-”

“You wasted painkillers on an alien?” Ozzel demanded.

“It's experimental, adverse side-effects in humans include truth-telling. We wished to see how his species reacted to that particular drug. He is now reciting… the contents of an Imperial Tactics course. And giggling while he provides annotations in Sy Bysti.”

“Which alien is this?” Vader asked.

“The blue one, sir, with glowing red eyes. His papers identify him as Uru Chaf, but we don’t know what species he is. We had been about to request help from Imperial Centre, before he started his recitation.”

“Detox him and place him in bacta,” Vader said after a moment’s thought. “Well done, Ozzel. You may have managed to ruin one of Intelligence’s most anticipated operations, and nearly killed a Fleet Captain in the process.”

Ozzel gaped.

“When Captain Thrawn is more mended, contact me.”


	5. Chapter 5

If Jorj never thought about Bespin, it would be too soon. Getting a new shipment had taken longer than he'd expected and even with the payment from the Rebels, he still didn't feel great. Since the holo conference with Roarke and Thrawn, he'd been more than a little worried about his lover. And being worried made it hard for him to be angry. He didn't like the notion that by the time Thrawn came back, he'd be over the whole cargo theft. At least until or unless his crew found out.

After brooding some more on their couch, he made himself a bland dinner. Then watched some old Nyte Blayde episode while he ate it.

Thrawn took a few tries to get the door open, and staggered in, juggling the set of painkillers and bacta patches and oh yes, temperature adjusters he'd been given for the occasion, then reached for his blaster because there were noises coming from the holoproj and-

"Would it be appropriate for me to ask if I could begin grovelling tomorrow?" Thrawn asked weakly, putting the blaster back.

Jorj startled then all but leaped over the couch. Mindful of Thrawn's bandages and patches, he pulled the Chiss into a hug. "It can wait. You're home."

Thrawn winced, and gingerly returned the hug with one arm.

Jorj kissed Thrawn's lip chastely before eying his injuries. "What happened? Come on in. You should sit down, okay?"

"Shot down. I was not piloting at the time."

Jorj insistently tugged Thrawn to the couch and helped him sit. "Let me make you some hot chocolate or tea. Is… Did… everyone else make it?"

"Followed by an overly-long debrief. Intelligence is impossible, I do not blame you for not wishing to be involved in it." Thrawn thought about it. "I am not certain at this stage. I may find out later. Hot chocolate?"

"Kriff. I'm sorry." Jorj pulled Thrawn into another hug before he got to his feet. "Sure. I'll be right back."

"Which," Thrawn went on, trying to settle into the sofa in a way that didn't make too many things twinge, because he was home, he didn't have to sit up straight and not show the pain right now. "Meant that my mission was brought to an end early. Though I may be pushed back into it later."

"Only if I let them have you back," Jorj corrected before disappearing into the kitchen. And he wasn't let anyone have Thrawn back when they returned him in such horrible condition.

Thrawn decided he was quite glad Jorj hadn't seen him before his release to Intelligence's tender mercies. "Glad you're here, ch'jorj'eo."

"Not as glad as I am to have you here with me. Even though you owe me  thousand credits."

"Did the Rebellion not pay you in full?" Thrawn opened one eye. "And surely I must do more grovelling than that."

"The Rebellion can't pay me back in caff and kisses. And that doesn't cover the grovelling."

"I am… not certain I understand where the credits come into this equation," Thrawn pointed out.

"Each kiss or cup of caff will equal a credit. You're in my debt forever, baby. But seeing as we're stuck with each other, it's not a big deal."

"I would have it no other way." Thrawn closed his eye again.

Jorj got the hot chocolate ready. And a cup of caff for himself since he didn't plan on sleeping any time soon. "You need anything else? An ice pack or something?"

Thrawn waved a hand and restrained a hiss at the packages.

Jorj set the drinks down and fetched the packages Thrawn had brought with. "You're a mess, ch'thrawn'eo."

"Your mess?"

Jorj sat down next to Thrawn, as close to him as he could be without being in his lap. "Always."

"Not how I wished to greet you, however."

"I'll allow you one raincheck. Can you make it up to me though? I feel like I'm owed better."

"Of course."

"Good. I love you. And I love that you're home."

"I love you. I wish I were not in this state so I could offer a better demonstration."

"Should you try sleeping maybe?"

"Rest is difficult without you."

"I'll stay with you."

"Was glad to speak with you," Thrawn whispered, then winced. "My speech patterns may take time to realign."

Jorj tugged Thrawn to him, brushing fingers lightly through his hair. "Don't worry about any of that. I understand you. And we can just talk in Cheunh for a bit if you want."

"I need the practice in Basic."

"Again. Don't worry. Please. Just don't think about the things you have to do or whatever. Those things will keep."

Thrawn shut his eyes again. "I am incredibly glad you were not involved beyond that first stage. I'm sorry I let them steal from you."

"It might have happened anyway. I wish you weren't involved but… Well, it's what it is. I did a decent job of pretending not to know you, I thought."

"Very. Nobody guessed. Not even the slightest clue."

"Good."

"Am I on this couch tonight?"

Jorj laughed and kissed Thrawn's forehead. "No. You were never going to be on a couch."

"I would have accepted that. That and so much worse."

Jorj sighed. "You never seem to get it. But you do really have to do something nice for me."

"I intend to. Had not worked out what could do you justice as yet, but shall continue that consideration forthwith." Thrawn kept his eyes shut while he spoke, quietly. "I heard a great deal about you."

"Was any of it good?"

"You are universally acknowledged as somebody who goes out of his way to do good."

Jorj rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

"You doubt my word?"

"No but why do people think that?"

"Presumably because you go out of your way to do good?" Thrawn suggested, lifting his lips into a half-smile on the unbruised side of his face.

Jorj shrugged. "I don't know if I'd make that big a deal out of it."

"Several people also spoke highly of how attractive you were, and chastised Roarke and myself for stealing your cargo."

"What did you say to them?"

"Depends on how they phrased it at the time."

"Well thanks for telling me, I guess. I don't see why I'm such a source of gossip though."

"Somebody heard about Roarke stealing things from you. It was usually decried as a poor idea."

"Of course it was. I overcharged him."

"I meant for the act of stealing from you itself. I told him the price was justified, and others agreed with my assessment."

Jorj sighed. "I'm just a simple smuggler. Seriously. I'm not exciting or romantic."

"Somebody said the vengeance you'd wreak would be terrible," Thrawn recalled.

"At any rate, I'm not a weird folk hero. So… let's talk about something else."

"There is an art exhibit on in a few months?"

Jorj laughed. "Okay maybe not. Why don't you just focus on telling me how awesome you think I am and not how everyone in the galaxy is into me?"

"I had planned to sweep you off your feet once I got home, or when you got home. Pick you up and kiss you. Or… take you somewhere we can actually see a starfield."

"I'd like that. Once you're better. You can surprise me. Just randomly do it."

"Or both."

"True. Just… don't abduct me from my ship or anything like that. My crew will never let me live it down."

"Mmm… Not even if I leave them a note first?"

"Even if."

Thrawn pulled his best pout. "You wound me."

"I don't want to be mercilessly teased. You're supposed to be doing something awesome for me."

"True. I shall have to think of something else. What did you think of the haircut and colouring?"

"Very convincing. I didn't know it was you until you were heading out of the bar."

Thrawn blinked in pure surprise. "I shall put part of that down to my acting skills and wardrobe. Had I not called you ch'acin't, do you think you would have known?"

"Maybe? I'd had a bit to drink, you know. That and… I probably would have considered it to be wishful thinking."

Thrawn smiled, then did hiss. "There are some pain relievers in that bag. Could you please hand me some? An early bedtime might be appropriate."

Jorj rummaged in the bag until he found the pain killers. He checked the dosage before handing Thrawn two. "You need water. I'll be right back."

"I have hot chocolate?" Thrawn suggested.

"Water," Jorj insisted. He headed back into the kitchen and returned with a glass. "Here you go."

Thrawn took his painkillers, wondering at the significance of water over the hot chocolate.

"It's better for you."

"It's not as delicious as your hot chocolate," Thrawn pointed out.

"You can have that now that you've been good and taken your pills."

"I always intended to take my pills." Thrawn frowned. "Your hands were bleeding in the bar."

Jorj grinned. "Don't worry about that. We got jumped by some idiots the second we entered the place. We dealt with them."

Thrawn pushed his hands around Jorj's wrists, and lifted them up to kiss Jorj's hands. "I did not get to do this at the time."

"Probably for the best. Well… for everyone except me."

"Indeed." Thrawn put Jorj's wrists down carefully. "I do not believe I have long before these pain relievers completely activate. I am uncertain as to how my physiology will handle them."

"Let's head to the bed then. You can lean on me or… I can probably carry you. Should be able to."

"I have been managing to move without assistance up until this point. Although until this point I was not home and did not have an excuse to lean on you." Thrawn shifted, starting to stand, then paused and reached for his hot chocolate to finish off first.

"I'll come back for that. You can even have a refill if you want."

"You are far too good for me," Thrawn managed, feeling his eyes droop. Perhaps there was a sedative in those… "Csarcah ch'ahvon?" he slurred.

"I am sometimes. Most of the time we're both just as good," Jorj assured Thrawn. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and steered him towards the bedroom. And subsequently, the bed. "Of course I will."


End file.
